Not Applicable
Not Applicable
The present invention relates to novel and improved methods of bodily worn or hand held devices which useful for the digital storage and retrieval of medical records, prescription history and emergency medical instructions in the event the wearer of such a device experiences a medical emergency, accident, or any other emergency. The device can provide a positive identification of the wearer via digitally stored color photo, in the event the wearer is unconscious and requires emergency medical treatment and/or medication provider wants to make a positive identification. The device can also be linked to the Internet via a serial number code to augment the digital storage capacity and international accessibility of said medical records and personal information in an emergency situation.
There is a long history of devices and particularly jewelry which are bodily worn and have been used to identify persons with known medical conditions in the event of a medical emergency. Several such examples of this would be a bracelet for identifying a rare blood type or a bracelet for identifying a diabetic or person with a rare allergic reaction to bees, snake bites or spiders.
Some recent patents which relate to bodily worn devices for medical records make reference to storing the medical records on microfilm (Chioffe U.S. Pat. No. 4,249,330 and Pelosi U.S. Pat. No. 5,359,798) or on a fan like device which could be read by a medical person (Eller U.S. Pat. No. 4,984,683). These inventions would be awkward to use and read in the event of an emergency and would only provide very limited medical information in the event of an emergency. Also, in the event of an accident, wherein these devises came off a persons body and the person was unconscious, it would be impossible for a medical emergency person to know which victim the jewelry belonged to (no positive ID).
Other recent patents include medical cards or medical like credit cards (Eberhardt U.S. Pat. No. 5,659,741 and Whalen U.S. Pat. No. 5,197,763) wherein medical records can be imbedded on or written into the card for storage and carrying in a wallet. The shortcoming of such cards, in the event of a medical emergency, is that such cards which are carried in a wallet would not be accessible to or known by the medical emergency worker. Having to require a medical worker or emergency technician to reach into an unconscious persons wallet to search for medical card poses serious legal liability questions, not to mention the awkwardness of fumbling with a persons wallet and searching through credit cards in an emergency. This card approach to the problem is not a practical solution which would be adopted by US society in general and particularly the medical-legal communities because of the legal questions. What if a medical technician was to find illegal drugs or weapons on a person when searching in their pockets or purse for a medical card? Although Eberhardt does mention in one sentence a locket or bracelet device he fails to teach or describe the invention disclosed herein or address the issues of being rugged, waterproof, explosion proof or bullet proof or address any of the issues of a transponder for tracking or locating ill, dead or lost wearers of the device.
Recent advances in the size and power of digital chips and digital storage media have made the invention described herein practical in that large amounts of digital data, which would provide for storing meaningful and practical medical information, can be stored on miniature chips and media that are lightweight, compact and would lend themselves to easy storage and retrieval in an emergency situation. Also, in the invention described herein, the digital storage media would not require electrical power and therefore a battery would not be required which would further reduce weight and increase portability. Advances in Internet speed and accessibility would also make it advantageous to link the bodily worn device to a central website via a unique user code so as to augment the digital storage capacity of the storage device and provide for international accessibility of user medical records and information in an emergency.
Also, combined as an integral part of this invention is a base unit and/or module which can be used in conjunction with the device to access, capture or otherwise obtain the stored information from the device in a non-contact wireless method as described herein. The preferred configuration of the module is a wireless and non contact means of accessing the stored data (induction, electromagnetic or radio transmitted signal with receiver wand) routing the data from the wand into the module in digital format either with a fiber optic cable, serial or parallel computer cable, or any other appropriate means, then sending the data through an interface circuit which would connect directly to an existing patent monitor or into a personal computer for viewing and interpretation by medical personnel. The prior art in this area of invention and most specifically Eberhardt U.S. Pat. No. 5,659,741; Doue U.S. Pat. No. 5,361,202; Whalen U.S. Pat. No. 5,327,341 fails to each many of the critical and practical new improvements embodied in this invention. Eberhardt""s main focus is on a massive central computer system for obtaining and managing medical data. Although Eberhardt briefly mentions storage devices for medical data he fails to teach or disclose any of the improvements embodied in this invention including but not limited to non contact and wireless transfer of data from the storage device to the module via a inductance or differential data transmission, the battery operation of the storage device, the transponder signal emitted from the device as a locator, making the device waterproof, explosion proof etc., for law enforcement and military applications. Eberhardt also fails to teach the preferred embodiment of the base module which would most likely be a simple plus in module to an existing patient monitor to minimize the coast to the health care system. Doue teaches a computer system and software for improving the management of a patient""s stay in a hospital but falls to teach or mention the medallion or pendant storage device or any of the aspects of storing and interpreting medical data in an emergency response situation. Whalen, like Doue, teaches a software and computer system for managing patient files and organizing medical records in general terms but does not teach any of the art of the bodily worn storage device, the wireless data retrieval, or the plug in interface module.
The invention disclosed describes a novel new approach to the storage, bodily wearing and retrieval of medical records, emergency medical treatment data, organ donor data, living will data, etc., in a rapid non contact manner, for displaying such data on a patient monitor for rapid emergency medical treatment, personal identification, autopsy, etc. The bodily device can also be linked to the Internet via a user code with would enable the users records to be accessible remotely and to augment the digital storage capacity of said device. The novel improvements of this device also describe a means of camouflaging the device as jewelry or a wristwatch or pocket watch so as to provide a tracking device and improvements to make the device waterproof and explosion proof, so as to be used as digital dogtags for military, law enforcement, or providing a hand held miniature computer type device with display.
The invention described herein has many improvements and innovations over prior art which, in part, include:
a). A large digital storage medium such as a computer chip, flash memory disk or other digital media for storage of large amounts of useful and meaningful medical information and records, including but not limited to pre-existing serious medical conditions, allergies to medications and drugs, ECG records, ex-rays, cardiac images or summaries of serious medical conditions, in the event of a medical emergency.
b). The digital storage of a color photo identification, iris eye scan identifier, fingerprints, dental records, of the wearer of the device to provide a positive identification in the event the wearer is unconscious or dead as a result of a medical emergency.
c). A decorative and/or functional use of the device such as embodying it into a wristwatch, enclosing the device in a pendant or medallion which is ornamental and resembles fine jewelry, or creating a decorative bracelet or other such device, but at the same time has the characteristics of being waterproof, explosion proof and bullet proof in the event the device is used as a digital dogtag for military applications or law enforcement or in the event the wearer is in a catastrophic accident such as a plane crash, train wreck, etc., wear body identification becomes an extremely difficult or near impossible task due to little or no remains of the victims body. There are many cases in aircraft accidents and in combat where the human body is literally blown into thousand of small and untraceable pieces and the medallion or digital dogtag could provide a means of identification and provide a clue to the fate of a relative or loved one to provide physiological closure.
d). Providing a rapid means of accessing the digital storage media for updating the information, retrieving the information in the event of an emergency. Such retrieval means could include a laser scanner head, a serial or parallel computer port, a digital phono jack, wireless AM or FM transmission, or fiber optic transmission, bar code scanner, inductive wand scanner or any other rapid and appropriate digital means to retrieve the data in the event of an emergency. The device can also be linked via a unique user serial number to a central website via the Internet. Such an Internet link can improve remote accessibility on an international scale as well as augment the digital storage capacity of the device via remote server and storage devices. The preferred access means embodied in this device is the electromagnetic wand or inductance wand which affords a rapid and convenient means of accessing the device data without any physical contact with the device or having to hook up any leads, wires or to insert the device in any slot, computer reader, disk reader, etc., which has been described by prior art.
e). Providing a battery pack or DC battery for long term electrical power of the device in the event it is embodied into a digital wristwatch, for the powering of AM or FM digital data transmission of stored information, for powering an AM or FM transponder signal in the event the wearer is lost due to Alzheimer""s disease, dementia, or hurt in an accident so as to track the wearer and locate their position using a Global Positioning System type network or local tracking network.
f). Providing a base unit for retrieving the data in an emergency such as in an ambulance, software and a computer screen for viewing the medical information and a means of transmitting the data via AM, FM, telemetry or digital telephone lines from the emergency vehicle to a hospital emergency room in the event of a medical emergency. The form of the base unit would most conveniently be in the form of a portable computer, dedicated hand held display and transmitter unit or could be in the form of a personal computer, but not need to be. It is most likely that, given the present state of medicine and the drive to reduce cost, the based unit will be no more than an interface module, which will consist of a printed circuit board and A/D converter which would plug into an existing patient monitor mounted in an ambulance or in an emergency room or physician""s office and such monitoring device performs a plurality of physiological function monitoring including ECG, blood gas, heart rate, respiration, etc., and the device digital information would be dumped into such a monitor and displayed on a split screen format for emergency medical treatment. It would be advantageous for each display computer to have Internet access to the computer can link to a central website where user records can also be accessed using a secure password code which is affixed to the bodily worn device.
g). Providing an AM or FM transponder signal which is emitted from the device to act as a tracking device in the event the wearer is in a remote location and has an accident, if the wearer wanders off due to dementia, Alzheimer""s disease, old age or is stricken with illness and needs to be located. Or, in the case of military applications or law enforcement officers to track and locate wounded, dead, lost or captured soldiers, sailors, or airmen or law enforcement officers. This invention, when worn by a child in the form of a watch or pendant, could also be used as a child protection tracking device in the event a child wandered off, was kidnapped or taken against their will in a nasty divorce. Since the device would look like a piece of jewelry, the person taking the child would not know the child was wearing a tracking device.
h). Providing a waterproof, explosion proof and bullet proof shell or casing around the inner workings and storage device to protect it in the event of a catastrophic accident or military disaster or combat.
i). Provide a clear and standard identification symbol on the exterior of the device identifying it as a medical and/or identification digital storage device and which identification symbol is further used to categorize the device into a series of classes, for easy visual recognition, such as green for non-life threatening medical conditions or normal conditions, yellow for mild to moderate medical conditions or drug interactions or red for serious or severe medical conditions which would be life threatening. The classification could also be done with symbols or alpha numerical code or classes of which bar coding or any other appropriate means.